Porridge

TWO POEMS – Seán Kennedy

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash Seán Kennedy is a twenty-three-year-old writer from Ireland whose poetry has previously appeared in the online edition of Porridge, as well as in online journals Dodging the Rain, The Honest Ulsterman, and The Bangor Literary Journal. He began writing poetry in 2017 after finishing an MA in English at…

ONE POEM – Frederick Pollack

Image: Konstantin Yuon – New Planet (1921) Frederick Pollack is the author of two book-length narrative poems, The Adventure and Happiness (Story Line Press), and two collections, A Poverty of Words (Prolific Press, 2015) and Landscape with Mutant (Smokestack Books, UK, 2018). Many of his other poems have appeared in print and online journals. Question…

Sexism in the Films of Jean-Luc Godard – Dan Morey

Dan Morey is a freelance writer in Pennsylvania. He’s worked as a book critic, nightlife columnist, travel correspondent and outdoor journalist. His writing has appeared in Hobart, decomP, McSweeney’s Quarterly and elsewhere. He was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Find him at danmorey.weebly.com. Sexism in the Films of Jean-Luc Godard A conversation is needed. A freewheeling debate. So I…

SHORT STORY – D. M. Kerr

Image: Henri Matisse, 1907, Blue Nude (Souvenir de Biskra) D. M. Kerr is the writing name of a Canadian writer currently living and working in Singapore, where he teaches game design and business. His work has been published recently in Founders Favourites, in the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library’s So It Goes magazine and in Page and…

Frederic Manning and the Greatest War Novel of all Time – Malcolm St Hill

Image: A Star Shell – Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson, 1916 Malcolm St Hill lives in Newcastle, Australia and is a poet, reviewer and independent researcher focused on the literary memory of the Great War, particularly the work of Australian soldier-poets. Frederic Manning and the Greatest War Novel of all Time The Australian poet and…

Bubba – Kaylie Saidin

Image: Richard Westall – The Artist’s Wife as Sappho Kaylie Saidin lives in New Orleans, where she studies English literature and is an editor at the Maroon. She was the winner of the 2018 Dawson Gaillard Award for Fiction and the 2018 Monroe Library Research Competition. Her work is published or is forthcoming in The…

TWO POEMS – Jamie Stedmond

Image: Alice Bailly – Self Portrait (1917) Jamie Stedmond is a young Irish writer, currently based in Dublin. Jamie is pursuing an MA in Creative Writing at University College Dublin. Previously published or forthcoming in The Bohemyth, Dodging the Rain, The Cabinet of Heed, Cold Coffee Stand, Brilliant Flash Fiction, Crossways Literary Magazine, Cagibi, ZeroFlash,…

Where I Lived – Robert Boucheron

Robert Boucheron grew up in Syracuse and Schenectady, NY. He has worked as an architect in New York City and Charlottesville, VA. His short stories and essays appear in Bangalore Review, Fiction International, The Fiction Pool, Litro, London Journal of Fiction, New Haven Review, Short Fiction. Where I Lived As the Great Recession brought construction to a standstill…

THREE POEMS – DS Maolalai

Image: Andre Derain – Charing Cross Bridge (1906) DS Maolalai is a poet from Ireland who has been writing and publishing poetry for almost 10 years. His first collection, Love is Breaking Plates in the Garden, was published in 2016 by the Encircle Press, and he has a second collection forthcoming from Turas Press in 2019. He has…

TWO POEMS – Ian C. Smith

Image: Faye Goodwin (1931-2005) Ian C Smith’s work has appeared in, Amsterdam Quarterly, Antipodes, Australian Poetry Journal, Critical Survey, Live Encounters, The Stony Thursday Book, and Two-Thirds North. His seventh book is wonder sadness madness joy, Ginninderra (Port Adelaide). He writes in the Gippsland Lakes area of Victoria, and on Flinders Island, Tasmania. Police informer’s last rites He imagined eyes…

An interview with Nora Selmani

Nora Selmani is a writer and poet based in London, an MA student in Comparative Literature at Kings College London and an Arts & Humanities editor at Porridge. We caught up with Nora to find out more about her first collection of poetry, Portraits, which has recently been released by the Cardiff-based publisher Lumin. In Portraits,…

Horsing Around: Performative Media and Yuan Art – Chris Rouse

Chris Rouse is Porridge‘s Non-Fiction Editor. He is a PhD candidate at the University of Birmingham, researching representations of East Asia in medieval European maps and travel literature. He has a keen interest in interdisciplinarity, global history and the history of ideas and ideologies. In his spare time he can often be found in old churches making bad…

ART – Nathalie Tierce

Nathalie Tierce was born in New York City and studied illustration at the High School of Art and Design and went on to receive a BFA in Painting from Pratt Institute. After graduating she worked extensively as a scenic artist in England painting backings for film and The BBC she settled in Los Angeles. This…

TWO POEMS – Charley Barnes

Image: Lee Krasner – The Seasons (1957) Charley Barnes is a Worcester-based poet and author who has recently gained her Doctorate degree in Creative Writing and now spends her days wondering what to do with it. Charley’s debut short story collection, The Women You Were Warned About, was published in May 2017, and her debut…

The Chore of the Text – Robert Boucheron

This essay by Robert Boucheron is also featured in Issue Two of Porridge, available for purchase here. Robert Boucheron grew up in Syracuse and Schenectady, New York. He has worked as an architect in New York City and since 1987 in Charlottesville, Virginia. His short stories and essays appear in Bellingham Review, Fiction International, London Journal…

PHOTOGRAPHY – Jim Zola

Jim Zola has worked in a warehouse, as a security guard, in a bookstore, as a teacher for deaf children, as a toy designer for Fisher-Price, and currently as a children’s librarian. Published in many journals through the years, his publications include a chapbook — ‘The One Hundred Bones of Weather’ (Blue Pitcher Press) — and…

TWO POEMS – Martina Reisz Newberry

Image: Claude Cahun – Untitled (1937) Martina Reisz Newberry’s latest books are: NEVER COMPLETELY AWAKE (Available from Deerbrook Editions) and TAKE THE LONG WAY HOME (Available from Unsolicited Press). Her work has been widely published in the U.S. and abroad. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Brian, a Media Creative. White Italian When…

TWO POEMS – Ella Cunningham

Image: Edward Hopper, Railroad Sunset (1929) Ella Cunningham graduated from University of Birmingham last year, having studied English with Creative writing and specialising in poetry in her final year. Her dissertation focused on making love poetry more accessible and in-line with the digital age, along with attempting to normalise and de-sensationalise LGBTQ relationships in love…

SHORT STORY – Alisha Mughal

This short story by Alisha Mughal appeared in the second print issue of Porridge which is available for purchase here. Alisha Mughal’s work has appeared previously in Queen Mob’s Teahouse, The Nottingham Review, and Bad Pony Magazine. She has a BA in Philosophy from the University of Toronto, and she currently resides in Ontario, Canada. She was born…

SHORT STORY – Anita Goveas

This short story by Anita Goveas appeared in our second print issue which is available for purchase here. Anita Goveas is British-Asian, based in London, and fueled by strong coffee and paneer jalfrezi. She was first published in the 2016 London Short Story Prize anthology, most recently in former cactus mag, Litro, New Flash Fiction Review,…

ART – Gavin Shepherdson

This artwork by Gavin is also featured in Issue Two of Porridge, available for purchase here. Gavin Shepherdson is a designer and artist from Lanchester, Durham. He studied Animation at Northumbria University and has exhibited short films at Ani’mest and Vilnius Festival among others. This will be his first publication for his artwork. His interests include…

SHORT STORY – John Herbert

Image: Esteban Vicente – Bridgehampton Rose (1970) This short story by John Herbert appeared in our second print issue, which is available for purchase here. John Herbert is an English teacher from Brighton, UK, holds a PhD in modernist fiction from the University of Birmingham, and is an alumnus of New Writing South’s Creative Writing…

ONE POEM – Loisa Fenichell

Loisa Fenichell is a Brooklyn-based middle school special education teacher. She recently received her BFA from the aptly named Purchase College, located in Purchase, NY, where she studied Creative Writing and Literature. Her poems have appeared in various publications, including Pink Monkey Magazine, Gandy Dancer, The Rising Phoenix Review, Electric Cereal, and Winter Tangerine Magazine….

ART – Hendrika Seguro-Bigg

This artwork by Hendrika is also featured in Issue Two of Porridge, available for purchase here. Hendrika Seguro-Bigg is an English Literature and Philosophy graduate from the University of Birmingham. Issue Two of Porridge was her first print publication, though she hopes to continue creating, taking inspiration from the world and its people as she leaves for travel…

PHOTOGRAPHY – Keith Moul

Keith Moul is a poet of place, a photographer of the distinction of place. His digital photos strive for a colourful vision with their high contrast and saturation. Both his poems and photos are published widely and available on his website, http://poemsphotosmoul.blogspot.com. Lost Lip (2012) The Arches Provincial Park, Newfoundland Ran Out of…

ONE POEM – Ian C. Smith

Image: Willem de Kooning – Valentine (1947) Ian C Smith’s work has appeared in, Amsterdam Quarterly, Antipodes, Australian Poetry Journal, Critical Survey, Live Encounters, The Stony Thursday Book, and Two-Thirds North. His seventh book is wonder sadness madness joy, Ginninderra (Port Adelaide). He writes in the Gippsland Lakes area of Victoria, and on Flinders Island, Tasmania. Ambrose in…

SHORT STORY – Christopher S. Bell

Christopher S. Bell has been writing and releasing literary and musical works through My Idea of Fun since 2008. His sound projects include Emmett and Mary, Technological Epidemic, C. Scott and the Beltones and Fine Wives. My Idea of Fun is an art and music archive focused on digital preservation with roots in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. (www.myideaoffun.org). Christopher’s work…

ART REVIEW: Where Privacy Meets Paranoia – Melissa Mesku

Melissa Mesku is a writer and editor in NYC. Where Privacy Meets Paranoia Bushwick artist builds a space for viewers to contemplate privacy “There’s people in your head,” artist Thierry Laurent explains, pointing to a silkscreen collage, one in his series of five called The Unknown. The image is dominated by an Illuminati-like eye. Below it,…

TWO POEMS – Josephine Greenland

Josephine Greenland is a British-Swedish writer holding an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Birmingham. A prose writer at heart, she is currently working on her first novel. When not writing, she can be seen wandering in the mountains or playing her violin. U-nomia A biological cartographer in a bracken of unclassifieds…

An interview with Wanda Deglane

Wanda Deglane is a psychology/family & human development student at Arizona State University whose poetry has been published or is forthcoming on Dodging the Rain, Rust + Moth, Anti-Heroin Chic, and elsewhere. Earlier this year, Wanda self-published her first book of poetry, Rainlily. Here, we find out more about Wanda’s journey into self-publishing and dig into the…

TWO POEMS – Ricky Garni

Image: ‘St James’ (acrylic on canvas) by the artist Pigcasso, who was saved from the slaughterhouse as a piglet and has taken up painting to international acclaim. Ricky Garni grew up in Florida and Maine, was educated at Exeter and Duke, and has lived off and on in the Triangle since 1977. Over the years he…

ART – Zoe Paterson

Zoe Paterson is an artist and Political Science graduate living in Birmingham. Horror stories are a big influence in her work, which aims to be simultaneously kitsch and unsettling. Her artistic influences include Francis Bacon, Dave McKean and all of the Goosebumps book covers. When she’s not painting, you’ll find her programming, skating, or learning…

ONE POEM – Aimee S. Green

Image: Wassily Kandinsky – Cossacks (1910) Aimee S. Green is an MA student currently living in Birmingham. Aside from working on a novel for her dissertation, she adores experimenting with short story forms and playing with perspective. She shares her poetry and prose on her blog, at https://aimeegreenwriter.wordpress.com/ Bombs Run. Like the bustling of a…

What does feminist dating look like? — Jennifer Maidment

Jennifer Maidment is an intersectional feminist who’s very active within her local community and also very single, so figured she’d would write about her experience/struggles. She’s an aspiring writer and is currently on leave from studying international law as an undergraduate at University of Birmingham. What does feminist dating look like? Meet Jennifer, a Gemini,…

THREE POEMS – Shirley Jones-Luke

Image: JACK WHITTEN, “Black Monolith, II: Homage To Ralph Ellison The Invisible Man,” 1994 (acrylic and mixed media on canvas: molasses, copper, salt, coal ash, chocolate, onion, herbs, rust, eggshell, razor blade). | © Jack Whitten, Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth Shirley Jones-Luke is a poet and a writer from Boston, Mass. She…

POETRY – Ian C Smith

Image: English novelist Evelyn Waugh by Henry Lamb, 1930 Ian C Smith’s work has appeared in Antipodes, Australian Poetry Journal, Critical Survey, Live Encounters, Prole, The Stony Thursday Book, & Two-Thirds North. His seventh book is ‘wonder sadness madness joy’, Ginninderra (Port Adelaide). He writes in the Gippsland Lakesarea of Victoria, and on Flinders Island, Tasmania….

The Object as Concept: Exploring the Role of Materiality in Yoko Ono’s ‘The Riverbed’— Margaryta Golovchenko

Image: Yoko Ono – Mend Piece, 2018 via The Gardiner Museum Margaryta Golovchenko is an undergrad student at the University of Toronto, an editor for Poached Hare, and a book reviewer for Alternating Current. Her work has appeared in publications such as Acta Victoriana, Glass: A Journal of Poetry, Contemporary Verse 2, Metatron, and others. She is also the author of…

TWO POEMS – Antonia Cundy

Image: Aaron Burden on Unsplash Antonia Cundy is an postgraduate student at the University of Cambridge, studying on an MPhil in American Literature. She has written (poetry and prose) for The Financial Times, The Economist, and The Oxonian Review, amongst others. Her work can be found at www.antoniacundy.com. The Milkman A skin had formed over her hot chocolate, creasing clinging off her spoon – grandmother’s…

POETRY – Abigail Pearson

Image by impressionist painter, Berthe Morisot. Abigail Pearson is 22 year old writer and poet from Eugene, Oregon. She is the co-founder of Cauldron Anthology, a literary magazine about the wild feminine that draws from mythology. She writes about everything from queer love, to escaping from a cult and my adorable black cat. Her poetry…

ONE POEM – Dan Hogan

Image: Joan Miró – Painting (1927) Dan Hogan is a writer whose work has appeared in The Guardian, The Lifted Brow, Scum Mag, Sydney Morning Herald, and Overland, among others. They are the Program Officer at Writing NSW, and a teacher. Dan is also the director of the independent literary organisation, Subbed In. They tweet @packetofchips…

TWO POEMS – Joe Shaw

Joe Shaw is a recent BA Creative Writing graduate from York St. John University. A curator at heart; he likes to explore the relationship between poetry and visual art practices. Image: Hugh Auchincloss Steers, 1995 Cover image: Pierre-Cécile Puvis de Chavannes, The Dream, 1883 [dreams are more radical than our reality.] – Guillermo Gómez Peña i…

Lady in the streets, freak in the sheets: challenging the virgin/whore dichotomy on ITV2’s Love Island

Milly Morris likes Foucault and feminism. She is currently chasing a PhD in political science at the University of Birmingham. She is a runner, as well as a lover of chickpeas and Game of Thrones. This essay was originally published on her website during the 2017 season of Love Island. Featured image: Clem Onojeghuo at Unsplash A foreword…